The present disclosure is directed to data storage devices. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to cache management systems for data storage devices.
Data storage devices, such as magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, hybrid drives, and solid state drives are used to store data for subsequent retrieval. Such devices employ data caches, which are typically high-speed semiconductor memory chips that enable the devices to rapidly manage the data and commands received from a host computer. Without caching, all read and write commands from the host computer would result in an access to the mass storage medium, such as a magnetic disk. This may result in significant time latencies due to mechanical positioning of the head relative to the magnetic disk. By caching, the storage device can buffer data that is likely to be accessed by the host computer so that when the data is actually accessed, the data is made available more quickly.